Biological authentication system

ABSTRACT

Herein disclosed is a biometric identity verification apparatus, comprising: imaging means ( 10 ) for taking an image indicative of a person sitting on a specific seat of an automotive vehicle; biometric identity information obtaining means ( 11 ) for obtaining biometric identity information of the person sitting on the specific seat from the image taken by the imaging means ( 10 ); biometric identity information storing means ( 12 ) for storing biometric identity information of at least one user who is allowed to utilize the automotive vehicle; judging means ( 13 ) for verifying the biometric identity information obtained by the biometric identity information obtaining means ( 11 ) on the basis of the biometric identity information stored by the biometric identity information storing means ( 12 ) to judge whether or not the person sitting on the specific seat is identical to the user who is allowed to utilize the automotive vehicle; seat position information storing means ( 14 ) for storing position information indicative of a position of the specific seat with respect to the automotive vehicle; and seat shifting means ( 15 ) for shifting the specific seat to the position to be represented by the position information stored by the seat position information storing means ( 14 ) when the image indicative of the person sitting on the specific seat is taken by the imaging means ( 10 ).

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a biometric identity verificationapparatus to be mounted on an automotive vehicle, and more particularlyto a biometric identity verification apparatus for verifying biometricidentity information obtained from one or more images of a personsitting on a driver's seat of an automotive vehicle to judge whether ornot to allow the person sitting on a driver's seat as a registered userto drive the automotive vehicle on the basis of the verification of thebiometric identity information.

DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART

As one of conventional biometric identity verification apparatuses eachto be mounted on an automotive vehicle, there has been known a biometricidentity verification apparatus which is shown in FIG. 7 as comprisingiris pattern information storing means 51 for storing iris patterninformation indicative of irises of one or more registered users, acamera unit 52 to be fixed at a position in the automotive vehicle totake an image indicative of one or two irises of a person sitting on adriver's seat of the automotive vehicle, identity judging andcontrolling means 53 for verifying iris pattern information obtainedfrom the image taken by the camera unit 52 with the iris patterninformation stored by the iris pattern information storing means 51 tojudge whether or not to identify the person sitting on the driver's seatas one of the registered users on the basis of the verification of theiris pattern information. The conventional biometric identityverification apparatus is adapted to allow the camera unit 52 to takethe image of the person sitting on the driver's seat without making thedriver consciously assume a posture for the camera unit 52 (See JapanesePatent Laying-Open Publication No. 2000-168502).

The conventional biometric identity verification apparatus to be mountedon the automotive vehicle, however, encounters such a problem that thedriver's seat is consciously shifted by the users to optimal positionsdepending on their own physical features when the automotive vehicle isutilized by each of the users. The driver's seat thus shifted frequentlycauses the camera unit 52 fixed at the position in the automotivevehicle to take no optimum image indicative of the person sitting on thedriver's seat. With no optimum image, the biometric identityverification may be performed at a relatively low accuracy, or fail tobe performed by the conventional biometric identity verificationapparatus.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide abiometric identity verification apparatus which can verify at arelatively high accuracy the biometric identity information obtainedfrom the image of the person sitting on the driver's seat to reliablyjudge whether or not the person is identical to the user who is allowedto utilize the automotive vehicle even if the driver's seat isconsciously shifted with respect to the automotive vehicle by the personsitting on the driver's seat.

In accordance with a first aspect of the present invention, there isprovided a biometric identity verification apparatus, comprising:imaging means for taking an image indicative of a person sitting on aspecific seat of an automotive vehicle; biometric identity informationobtaining means for obtaining biometric identity information indicativeof the person sitting on the specific seat from the image taken by theimaging means; biometric identity information storing means for storingbiometric identity information of at least one user who is allowed toutilize the automotive vehicle; judging means for judging whether or notthe person sitting on the specific seat is identical to the user who isallowed to utilize the automotive vehicle on the basis of the biometricidentity information obtained by the biometric identity informationobtaining means and the biometric identity information stored by thebiometric identity information storing means; seat position informationstoring means for storing position information indicative of a positionof the specific seat with respect to the automotive vehicle; and seatshifting means for shifting the specific seat to the position to berepresented by the position information stored by the seat positioninformation storing means when the image indicative of the personsitting on the specific seat is taken by the imaging means.

The biometric identity verification apparatus thus constructed aspreviously mentioned can judge at a relatively high reliability whetheror not the person sitting on the specific seat is identical to the userwho is allowed to utilize the automotive vehicle on the basis of thebiometric identity information obtained from the image indicative of theperson sitting on the specific seat without being affected by thechanged position of the specific seat by reason that the specific seatis shifted to the position represented by the previously stored positioninformation when the image indicative of the person sitting on thespecific seat is taken by the imaging means.

The biometric identity verification apparatus according to the presentinvention may further comprise seat position information registeringmeans for registering in the seat position information storing means theposition information indicative of the current position of the specificseat with respect to the automotive vehicle.

The biometric identity verification apparatus thus constructed aspreviously mentioned can register the position information indicative ofthe position to be occupied by the specific seat with respect to theautomotive vehicle, as an optimum position to be defined in associationwith the person sitting on the specific seat.

In the biometric identity verification apparatus according to thepresent invention, the imaging means may be operative to take an imageindicative of the face of the person sitting on the specific seat.

The biometric identity verification apparatus thus constructed aspreviously mentioned can judge at a relatively high reliability whetheror not the person sitting on the specific seat is identical to the userwho is allowed to utilize the automotive vehicle on the basis of thebiometric identity information obtained from the image indicative of theperson sitting on the specific seat without being affected by thechanged position of the specific seat by reason that the specific seatis shifted to the position represented by the previously stored positioninformation when the image indicative of the person sitting on thespecific seat is taken by the imaging means.

In the biometric identity verification apparatus according to thepresent invention, the imaging means may be operative to take an imageindicative of one or two irises of the person sitting on the specificseat.

The biometric identity verification apparatus thus constructed aspreviously mentioned can judge at a relatively high reliability whetheror not the person sitting on the specific seat is identical to the userwho is allowed to utilize the automotive vehicle on the basis of thebiometric identity information obtained from the image indicative of theperson sitting on the specific seat without being affected by thechanged position of the specific seat by reason that the specific seatis shifted to the position represented by the previously stored positioninformation when the image indicative of the person sitting on thespecific seat is taken by the imaging means.

The biometric identity verification apparatus according to the presentinvention may further comprise an in-vehicle apparatus immobilizingmeans to be operative in combination with at least one in-vehicleapparatus. The judging means may be operative to verify the biometricidentity information obtained by the biometric identity informationobtaining means to judge whether or not the person sitting on thespecific seat is identical to the user who is allowed to utilize thein-vehicle apparatus. The in-vehicle apparatus immobilizing means may beoperative to immobilize the in-vehicle apparatus to prevent thein-vehicle apparatus from being utilized by the person sitting on thespecific seat when the judgment is made that the person sitting on thespecific seat is not identical to the user who is allowed to utilize thein-vehicle apparatus.

The biometric identity verification apparatus thus constructed aspreviously mentioned can judge whether or not the person sitting on thespecific seat is identical to the user who is allowed to utilize each ofthe in-vehicle apparatuses to selectively allow the in-vehicleapparatuses to be utilized by the person sitting on the specific seat,and to selectively prevent the in-vehicle apparatuses from beingimproperly utilized by the person sitting on the specific seat even ifthe automotive vehicle is borrowed from the user by the person.

In the biometric identity verification apparatus according to thepresent invention, the in-vehicle apparatus may be constituted by anengine activating apparatus for activating the engine of the automotivevehicle.

The biometric identity verification apparatus thus constructed aspreviously mentioned can prevent the automotive vehicle from beingcarelessly stolen by a suspicious person by reason that the in-vehicleapparatus immobilizing means is operative to immobilize the engine toprevent the automotive vehicle from being utilized by the person sittingon the specific seat when the judgment is made that the person sittingon the specific seat is not identical to the user who is allowed toutilize the in-vehicle apparatus.

In the biometric identity verification apparatus according to thepresent invention, the seat position information storing means may beoperative to store seat-position-in-moving-vehicle informationindicative of the position to be occupied in moving vehicle by thespecific seat, to be defined with respect to the automotive vehicle, theposition of the specific seat depending on the user who is allowed toutilize the automotive vehicle. The seat shifting means may be operativeto shift the specific seat to the position represented by theseat-position-in-moving-vehicle information stored by the seat positioninformation storing means when the judgment is made that the personsitting on the specific seat is identical to the user who is allowed toutilize the automotive vehicle.

The biometric identity verification apparatus thus constructed aspreviously mentioned can prevent a tedious task to shift the specificseat to the optimum position from being imposed on the person sitting onthe specific seat when the judgment is made that the person sitting onthe specific seat is identical to the user who is allowed to utilize theautomotive vehicle.

The biometric identity verification apparatus according to the presentinvention may further comprise steering wheel shifting means forshifting the steering wheel of the automotive vehicle to a position tobe within a predetermined range in position, or a direction to be withina predetermined range in direction.

The biometric identity verification apparatus thus constructed aspreviously mentioned can change the position and direction of thesteering wheel to allow the image indicative of the person sitting onthe specific seat to be taken by the imaging means without beinginterrupted by the steering wheel.

The biometric identity verification apparatus according to the presentinvention may further comprise steering wheel position judging means forjudging whether or not the position of the steering wheel is within thepredetermined range in position, or whether or not the direction of thesteering wheel is within the predetermined range in direction. Thesteering wheel position adjusting means may be operative to shift thesteering wheel of the automotive vehicle to the position to be withinthe predetermined range in position, or the direction to be within thepredetermined range in direction when the judgment is made that theposition of the steering wheel is not within the predetermined range inposition, or the judgment is made that the direction of the steeringwheel is not within the predetermined range in direction.

The biometric identity verification apparatus thus constructed aspreviously mentioned can change the position and direction of thesteering wheel when the image indicative of the person sitting on thespecific seat is taken by the imaging means.

In accordance with a second aspect of the present invention, there isprovided an automotive vehicle to be provided with the above-mentionedbiometric identity verification apparatus.

The automotive vehicle thus constructed as previously mentioned caneasily establish the biometric identity verification of the personsitting on the specific seat. In other words, the biometric identityverification apparatus can improve its security level to prevent theautomotive vehicle from being utilized, or stolen by a suspiciousperson.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The features and advantages of a biometric identity verificationapparatus according to the present invention will be more clearlyunderstood from the following description taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a first embodiment of the biometricidentity verification apparatus according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing the first seat position to beoccupied by the specific seat, and to be represented by the first seatposition information in the biometric identity verification apparatusaccording to the present invention;

FIG. 3 is schematic view showing the second seat position to be occupiedby the specific seat, and to be represented by the second seat positioninformation in the biometric identity verification apparatus accordingto the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the first embodiment ofthe biometric identity verification apparatus according to the presentinvention;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a second embodiment of the biometricidentity verification apparatus according to the present invention;

FIGS. 6A and 6B are flowcharts collectively showing the operation of thesecond embodiment of the biometric identity verification apparatusaccording to the present invention; and

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a conventional biometric identityverification apparatus.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The preferred embodiments of the biometric identity verificationapparatus according to the present invention will be describedhereinafter in accordance with accompanying drawings.

First Embodiment

The constitution of the first embodiment of the biometric identityverification apparatus according to the present invention will bedescribed hereinafter with reference to FIG. 1.

The biometric identity verification apparatus 1 is shown in FIG. 1 ascomprising imaging means 10 for taking an image indicative of a personsitting on a specific seat such as a driver's seat 21 of an automotivevehicle, biometric identity information obtaining means 11 for obtainingbiometric identity information of the person sitting on the driver'sseat 21 from the image taken by the imaging means 10, biometric identityinformation storing means 12 for storing biometric identity informationof at least one user who is allowed to utilize the automotive vehicle,judging means 13 for verifying the biometric identity informationobtained by the biometric identity information obtaining means 11 on thebasis of the biometric identity information stored by the biometricidentity information storing means 12 to judge whether or not the personsitting on the driver's seat 21 is identical to the user who is allowedto utilize the automotive vehicle, seat position information storingmeans 14 for storing position information indicative of a position ofthe driver's seat 21 with respect to the automotive vehicle, and seatshifting means 15 for shifting the driver's seat 21 to the positionrepresented by the position information stored by the seat positioninformation storing means 14 when the image indicative of the personsitting on the driver's seat 21 is taken by the imaging means 10.

In this embodiment, the imaging means 10 includes a first camera unit 16for taking an image indicative of the face of the person sitting on thedriver's seat 21, and a second camera unit 17 for taking an imageindicative of one or two irises of the person sitting on the driver'sseat 21. The biometric identity information obtaining means 11 isoperative to obtain, as biometric identity information, face informationindicative of face of the person sitting on the driver's seat 21 fromthe image taken by the first camera unit 16, and iris patterninformation indicative of one or two irises of the person sitting on thedriver's seat 21 from the image taken by the second camera unit 17.

The biometric identity information storing means 12 is constituted by anonvolatile memory having previously stored therein the face and irispattern information of at least one user who is allowed to utilize theautomotive vehicle, while the judging means 13 is operative to verifythe face and iris pattern information obtained by the biometric identityinformation obtaining means 11 on the basis of the face and iris patterninformation stored by the biometric identity information storing means12 to judge whether or not the person sitting on the driver's seat 21 isidentical to the user who is allowed to utilize the automotive vehicle.

The seat position information storing means 14 is constituted by anonvolatile memory having previously stored therein three different seatposition information including first seat position informationindicative of a first seat position to be occupied by the driver's seat21 when the image indicative of the face of the person sitting on thedriver's seat 21 is taken by the first camera unit 16, second seatposition information indicative of a second seat position to be occupiedby the driver's seat 21 when the image indicative of one or two irisesof the person sitting on the driver's seat 21 is taken by the secondcamera unit 17, and seat-position-in-moving-vehicle informationindicative of a third seat position to be occupied by the driver's seat21 when the automotive vehicle is moving, or the automotive vehicle isbeing driven by the person sitting on the driver's seat 21.

Here, the seat position information storing means 14 is operative tostore the seat-position-in-moving-vehicle information in one-to-onerelationship with the user who is allowed to utilize the automotivevehicle. The seat position information storing means 14 may beconstituted by memory media, which may further constitute the biometricidentity information storing means 12.

The seat shifting means 15 is operative to shift the driver's seat 21 tothe first seat position to be represented by the first seat positioninformation stored by the seat position information storing means 14when the image indicative of the face of the person sitting on thedriver's seat 21 is taken by the first camera unit 16, to shift thedriver's seat 21 to the second seat position to be represented by thesecond position information stored by the seat position informationstoring means 14 when the image indicative of one or two irises of theperson sitting on the driver's seat 21 is taken by the second cameraunit 17, and to shift the driver's seat 21 to the third position to berepresented by the seat-position-in-moving-vehicle information stored bythe seat position information storing means 14 when the judgment is madeby the judging means 13 that the person sitting on the driver's seat 21is identical to the user who is allowed to utilize the automotivevehicle on the basis of the face and iris pattern information obtainedby the biometric identity information obtaining means 11.

The schematic view of FIG. 2 shows the first seat position to berepresented by the first seat position information. The schematic viewof FIG. 3 shows the second seat position to be represented by the secondseat position information.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the first camera unit 16 is built in aninstrument panel 18 of the automotive vehicle. The second camera unit 17is fixed to the ceiling 20 of the automotive vehicle at the rear of avisor 19 of the automotive vehicle. The driver's seat 21 shifted to thefirst seat position to be represented by the first seat positioninformation is close to a front section of the automotive vehicle incomparison with the driver's seat 21 shifted to the second seat positionto be represented by the second seat position information.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the biometric identity verification apparatus1 further comprises seat position setting means 22 to be operated by theperson sitting on the driver's seat 21 to allow the driver's seat 21 tobe slidably moved with respect to the automotive vehicle, and startinstruction issuing means for issuing a start instruction to the imagingmeans 10 to start to take an image indicative of the person sitting onthe driver's seat 21.

The seat position setting means 22 is fixed to the driver's seat 21,while the seat shifting means 15 is operative to allow the driver's seat21 to be slidably moved with respect to the automotive vehicle in thedirection of rear section, or front section of the automotive vehicle inresponse to the operation of the seat position setting means 22.

The start instruction issuing means includes a door sensor for detectingwhether or not the driver side door of the automotive vehicle isproperly shut, and a push button 23 to be located in the vicinity of theseat position setting means 22. When the judgment is made that the pushbutton 23 is pushed by the person sitting on the driver's seat 21 underthe condition that the driver side door is properly shut, the startinstruction issuing means is operative to issue a start instruction tothe imaging means 10 to start to take an image indicative of the personsitting on the driver's seat 21.

When the judgment is made by the judging means 13 that the personsitting on the driver's seat 21 is not identical to the user who isallowed to utilize the automotive vehicle, the judgment is made onwhether or not the push button 23 is pushed again by the person sittingon the driver's seat 21. When the judgment is made that the push button23 is pushed again by the person sitting on the driver's seat 21, thestart instruction issuing means is operative to issue the startinstruction to be outputted to the imaging means 10.

The start instruction issuing means may further include an iris patternverification start button (not shown) to be located in the vicinity ofthe second camera unit 17, and to be operative to issue a startinstruction to start with a process of verifying the iris patterninformation of the person sitting on the driver's seat 21 on the basisof the iris pattern information stored by the seat biometric identityinformation storing means 12.

As shown in FIG. 1, the biometric identity verification apparatus 1further comprises seat position information registering means 24 forproducing seat position information indicative of the current positionof the driver's seat 21 with respect to the automotive vehicle toregister the seat position information in the seat position informationstoring means 14.

The seat position information registering means 24 will be morespecifically described hereinafter. The seat position informationregistering means 24 is operative to assume a registration mode toregister in the seat position information storing means 14 a first seatposition information indicative of, as a first seat position, thecurrent position to be occupied by the driver's seat 21 when thejudgment is made by the judging means 13 that the face informationobtained from the image taken by the first camera unit 16 is the same asthe face information stored by the biometric identity informationstoring means 12, and the second seat position information indicativeof, as a second position, the current position to be occupied by thedriver's seat 21 when the judgment is made by the judging means 13 thatthe iris pattern information obtained from the image taken by the secondcamera unit 17 is the same as the iris pattern information stored by thebiometric identity information storing means 12. When, for example, anignition switch is turned on by the person sitting on the driver's seat21, the seat position information registering means 24 may be operativeto assume the registration mode.

The biometric identity verification apparatus 1 further comprisesin-vehicle apparatus immobilizing means 25 for immobilizing apparatuseseach to be mounted on the automotive vehicle (hereinafter simplyreferred to as “in-vehicle apparatuses”) to prevent each of thein-vehicle apparatuses from being utilized by the person sitting on thedriver's seat 21 when the judgment is made that the person sitting onthe driver's seat 21 is not identical to the user who is allowed toutilize the automotive vehicle. Here, the in-vehicle apparatusesincludes an engine activating apparatus for allowing the engine to beactivated, an in-vehicle telephone, an in-vehicle audio apparatus, acombination meter, an in-vehicle emergency apparatus, an in-vehiclecommunication apparatus for performing the communication with anelectronic toll collection system, and a navigation apparatus.

Here, the face, iris pattern, and other biometric identity informationof the user may be selectively registered in each of the in-vehicleapparatuses, while the judging means 13 may be operative to judge ineach of the in-vehicle apparatuses whether or not the biometric identityinformation obtained from the image taken by the imaging means 10 is thesame as the biometric identity information selectively registered ineach of the in-vehicle apparatuses. The in-vehicle apparatusimmobilizing means 25 may be operative to separately immobilize thein-vehicle apparatuses on the basis of the judgment of the judging means13.

In this embodiment, the in-vehicle apparatus is constituted by an engineactivating apparatus which is operative to lock the in-vehicle apparatusor an ignition switch.

The operation of the biometric identity verification apparatus 1according to the first embodiment of the present invention will bedescribed hereinafter with reference to FIG. 4.

When the judgment is made that the push button 23 is pushed by theperson sitting on the driver's seat 21 under the condition that thedriver side door is properly shut, the start instruction to the imagingmeans 10 to take an image indicative of the person sitting on thedriver's seat 21 is issued by the start instruction issuing means in thestep S1. The driver's seat 21 is then shifted to the first seat positionrepresented by the first seat position information stored by the seatposition information storing means 14 in the step S2.

Here, the driver's seat 21 may be shifted by the seat shifting means 15to the first seat position when the person sitting on the driver's seat21 gets out of the automotive vehicle.

The image indicative of the face of the person sitting on the driver'sseat 21 is then taken by the first camera unit 16 in response to thestart instruction issued by the start instruction issuing means in thestep S3. The face information indicative of the face of the personsitting on the driver's seat 21 is then obtained by the biometricidentity information obtaining means 11 from the image taken by thefirst camera unit 16 in the step S4. The verification of the faceinformation obtained by the biometric identity information obtainingmeans 11 is then performed by the judging means 13 on the basis of theface information stored by the biometric identity information storingmeans 12. The judgment is then made by the judging means 13 in the stepS5 on whether or not the face information obtained by the biometricidentity information obtaining means 11 is the same as the faceinformation stored by the biometric identity information storing means12.

When the judgment is made in the step S5 that the face informationobtained by the biometric identity information obtaining means 11 is notthe same as the face information stored by the biometric identityinformation storing means 12, the judgment is made in the step S6 onwhether or not the time period elapsing between a current time and atime when the image indicative of the face of the person sitting on thedriver's seat 21 is taken by the first camera unit 16 exceeds apredetermined threshold value. When the judgment is made in the step S6that the time period exceeds the predetermined threshold value, theverification of the face information is completed by the biometricidentity verification apparatus 1. When, on the other hand, the judgmentis made in the step S6 that the time period does not exceed thepredetermined threshold value, the step S6 proceeds to the step S3. Theoperation of the verification of the face information is performed againby the biometric identity verification apparatus 1 through the steps S3to S5.

When, on the other hand, the judgment is made in the step S5 that theface information obtained by the biometric identity informationobtaining means 11 is the same as the face information stored by thebiometric identity information storing means 12, the judgment is thenmade in the step S7 on whether or not the seat position informationregistering means 24 in the registration mode. When the judgment is madethat the seat position information registering means 24 in theregistration mode, the current position of the driver's seat 21 withrespect to the automotive vehicle is registered as the first seatposition information by the seat position information registering means24. From the above detail description, it will be understood that thefirst seat position information registered by the seat positioninformation registering means 24 can represent a position at which theimage indicative of the face of the person sitting on the driver's seat21 is capable of being optimally taken by the imaging means 10. Thisleads to the fact that the biometric identity verification apparatus 1can perform at a relatively high accuracy the verification of the faceinformation obtained from the image taken at the first seat position.

When, on the other hand, the judgment is made in the step S7 that theseat position information registering means 24 is not in theregistration mode, the driver's seat 21 is shifted by the seat shiftingmeans 15 to the second seat position represented by the second seatposition information stored by the seat position information storingmeans 14 in the step S9.

The image indicative of one or two irises of the person sitting on thedriver's seat 21 is then taken by the second camera unit 17 in the stepS10. The biometric identity information indicative of one or two irisesof the person sitting on the driver's seat 21 is then obtained by thebiometric identity information obtaining means 11 from the image takenby the second camera unit 17 in the step S11. The verification of thebiometric identity information obtained by the biometric identityinformation obtaining means 11 is then performed by the judging means 13on the basis of the biometric identity information stored by thebiometric identity information storing means 12. The judgment is made bythe judging means 13 in the step S12 on whether or not the iris patterninformation obtained by the biometric identity information obtainingmeans 11 is the same as the iris pattern information stored by thebiometric identity information storing means 12 on the basis of theverification of the biometric identity information.

When the judgment is made in the step S12 that the iris patterninformation obtained by the biometric identity information obtainingmeans 11 is not the same as the iris pattern information stored by thebiometric identity information storing means 12, the judgment is made inthe step S13 on whether or not the time period elapsing between acurrent time and a time when the image indicative of the face of theperson sitting on the driver's seat 21 is taken by the second cameraunit 17 exceeds the predetermined threshold value. When the judgment ismade in the step S13 that the time period exceeds the predeterminedthreshold value, the verification of the iris pattern information iscompleted by the biometric identity verification apparatus 1. When, onthe other hand, the time period does not exceed the predeterminedthreshold value, the step S13 proceeds to the step S10. The verificationof the iris pattern information is performed again by the biometricidentity verification apparatus 1 through the steps S10 to S12.

When, on the other hand, the judgment is made in the step S12 that theiris pattern information obtained by the biometric identity informationobtaining means 11 is the same as the iris pattern information stored bythe biometric identity information storing means 12, the judgment ismade in the step S14 on whether or not the time period elapsing betweenthe current time and the time when the image indicative of one or twoirises of the person sitting on the driver's seat 21 is taken by thesecond camera unit 17 exceeds the predetermined threshold value. Whenthe judgment is made in the step S14 that the time period exceeds thepredetermined threshold value, the verification of the iris patterninformation is completed by the biometric identity verificationapparatus 1. When, on the other hand, the time period does not exceedthe predetermined threshold value, the step S6 proceeds to the step S10.The verification of the iris pattern information is performed again bythe biometric identity verification apparatus 1 through the steps S10 toS12.

When, on the other hand, the judgment is made in the step S14 that theseat position information registering means 24 is not in theregistration mode, the in-vehicle apparatus immobilizing means 25 allowsthe engine activating apparatus to assume a state to operable toactivate the engine in the step S16. The driver's seat 21 is thenshifted by the seat shifting means 15 to the position to be representedby the seat-position-in-moving-vehicle information stored by the seatposition information storing means 14 in the step S17.

When the first seat position information is not registered in the seatposition information storing means 14, the position of the driver's seat21 may be shifted in the step S2 to a position which was occupied by thedriver's seat 21 when the image indicative of the face of the personsitting on the driver's seat 21 was taken by the imaging means 10 inlast use, the judgment being made by the identity information judgingmeans 13 that the face information obtained from the image indicative ofthe face of the person sitting on the driver's seat 21 is the same asthe face information stored by the biometric identity informationstoring means 12. The position of the driver's seat 21 may be shifted toa predetermined position when the image indicative of the face of theperson sitting on the driver's seat 21 is taken for the first time bythe imaging means 10.

When the first seat position information is not registered in the seatposition information storing means 14, the position of the driver's seat21 may be shifted in the step S9 to a position which was occupied by thedriver's seat 21 when the image indicative of one or two irises of theperson sitting on the driver's seat 21 was taken by the imaging means 10in last use, the judgment being made by the identity information judgingmeans 13 that the iris pattern information obtained from the imageindicative of one or two irises of the person sitting on the driver'sseat 21 is the same as the iris pattern information stored by thebiometric identity information storing means 12. The driver's seat 21may be shifted to a predetermined position when the image indicative ofone or two irises of the person sitting on the driver's seat 21 is takenfor the first time by the imaging means 10.

When the image indicative of the person sitting on the driver's seat 21is taken by the imaging means 10 of the above mentioned biometricidentity verification apparatus 1 according to the present invention,the face of the person sitting on the driver's seat 21 may beilluminated by an interior lamp such as for example a map lamp mountedon the automotive vehicle.

The information about the verification and judgment of the judging means13, or the guidance to be provided at a time when the driver's seat 21is being shifted by the seat shifting means 15 may be displayed, asimage or character, on a screen of a liquid crystal display devicemounted on the automotive vehicle, or outputted as a sound through aspeaker unit of an audio apparatus mounted on the automotive vehicle.

The constitutional elements of the biometric identity verificationapparatus 1 according to the first embodiment of the present inventionmay be realized by a central processing unit (CPU) which is operative toexecute a program indicative of the above mentioned operation of thebiometric identity verification apparatus 1. More specifically, thebiometric identity information obtaining means 11, the judging means 13,the seat shifting means 15, the seat position information registeringmeans 24, and the in-vehicle apparatus immobilizing means 25 may becollectively constituted by the CPU.

From the above detail description, it will be understood that thebiometric identity verification apparatus 1 according to the firstembodiment of the present invention can verify at a relatively highaccuracy the biometric identity information of the person sitting on thedriver's seat 21 by reason that the seat shifting means 15 is operativeto shift the driver's seat 21 to the position represented by theposition information previously stored by the seat position informationstoring means 14 when the image indicative of the person sitting on thedriver's seat 21 of the automotive vehicle is taken by the imaging means10.

When the judgment is made that the person sitting on the driver's seat21 is identical to the registered user through the steps of shifting thedriver's seat 21 to the first seat position to allow the imageindicative of the face of the person sitting on the driver's seat 21 tobe optimally taken by the imaging means 10 before judging that the faceidentity information obtained from the image taken at the first seatposition is the same as the stored face identity information, shiftingthe driver's seat 21 to the second position to allow the imageindicative of one or two irises of the person sitting on the driver'sseat 21 to be optimally taken by the imaging means 10 before judgingthat the iris identity information obtained from the image taken at thesecond position is the same as the stored iris identity information, thebiometric identity verification apparatus 1 according to the firstembodiment of the present invention is operative to allow the automotivevehicle to be utilized by the person sitting on the driver's seat 21.When the judgment is made that the obtained face identity information isthe same as the stored face identity information, or the judgment ismade that the obtained iris identity information is the same as thestored iris identity information, the biometric identity verificationapparatus may be operative to allow the in-vehicle apparatus to beutilized by the person sitting on the driver's seat 21. When, forexample, an iris pattern verification start button is pushed by theperson sitting on the driver's seat 21 in the biometric identityverification apparatus which is operative to sequentially perform theface and iris pattern information verifications, the driver's seat 21may be shifted to the seat position to be represented by the second seatposition information lastly stored by the seat position informationstoring means 14, or a predetermined seat position before the irispattern information of the person sitting on driver's seat 21 isperformed by the judging means 13.

The in-vehicle apparatuses may be previously prioritized by thebiometric identity verification apparatus 1 according to the presentinvention, while the judging means 13 may be operative to judge whetheror not to allow the relatively high prioritized in-vehicle apparatus,such as for example an audio apparatus, to be utilized by the personsitting on the driver's seat 21 on the basis of the verification of theface information, and to judge whether or not to allow the relativelylow prioritized in-vehicle apparatus, such as for example an engine, tobe utilized by the person sitting on the driver's seat 21 on the basisof the verification of the iris pattern information.

The operation modes of the in-vehicle apparatus may be previouslyprioritized by the biometric identity verification apparatus 1 accordingto the present invention, while the judging means 13 may be operative tojudge whether or not to allow the in-vehicle apparatus to perform in therelatively high prioritized operation mode, such as for example apreviously set radio mode, on the basis of the verification of the faceinformation, and to judge whether or not to allow the in-vehicleapparatus to perform in the relatively low prioritized operation mode,such as for example a switching mode to switch from a radio to a compactdisc, on the basis of the verification of the iris pattern information.

Second Embodiment

The second embodiment of the biometric identity verification apparatusaccording to the present invention will be described hereinafter withreference to FIG. 5. The constitutional elements of the secondembodiment of the biometric identity verification apparatus according tothe present invention are entirely the same as those of the firstembodiment of the biometric identity verification apparatus according tothe present invention except for the constitutional elements appearingin the following description. Therefore, only the constitutionalelements of the second embodiment of the biometric identity verificationapparatus different from those of the first embodiment of the biometricidentity verification apparatus will be described in detail hereinafter.The constitutional elements of the second embodiment of the biometricidentity verification apparatus entirely the same as those of the firstembodiment of the biometric identity verification apparatus will not bedescribed but bear the same reference numerals and legends as those ofthe first embodiment of the biometric identity verification apparatus.

As shown in FIG. 5, the biometric identity verification apparatus 2further comprises, in addition to the constitutional elements of thefirst embodiment of the biometric identity verification apparatus 1according to the present invention, steering wheel position adjustingmeans 31 for adjusting the position of the steering wheel 30 to ensurethat the position of the steering wheel 30 is within a predeterminedrange, or to ensure that the direction of the steering wheel 30 iswithin a predetermined range, and steering wheel position judging means32 for judging whether or not the position of the steering wheel 30 iswithin the predetermined range, or whether or not the direction of thesteering wheel 30 is within the predetermined range.

The term “predetermined range” is intended to indicate a range in whichthe image indicative of the person sitting on the driver's seat 21 istaken by the imaging means 10 without being interrupted by the steeringwheel 30.

The steering wheel position adjusting means 31 is constituted by atleast two constitutional elements including a driving motor for drivingthe steering wheel 30 to shift the position of the steering wheel 30,and the above-mentioned CPU. When the judgment is made that the positionof the steering wheel 30 is not within the predetermined range, thesteering wheel position adjusting means 31 is operative to shift theposition of the steering wheel 30 to ensure that the position of thesteering wheel 30 is within the predetermined range.

The steering wheel position judging means 32 is constituted by at leasttwo constitutional elements including a sensor for detecting theposition of the steering wheel 30, and the above-mentioned CPU.

The operation of the second embodiment of the biometric identityverification apparatus according to the present invention will bedescribed hereinafter with reference to FIGS. 6A and 6B. The steps ofthe second embodiment of the biometric identity verification apparatusaccording to the present invention are entirely the same as those of thefirst embodiment of the biometric identity verification apparatusaccording to the present invention as shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B exceptfor the steps appearing in the following description. Therefore, onlythe steps of the second embodiment of the biometric identityverification apparatus different from those of the first embodiment ofthe biometric identity verification apparatus will be described indetail hereinafter. The steps of the second embodiment of the biometricidentity verification apparatus entirely the same as those of the firstembodiment of the biometric identity verification apparatus will not bedescribed but bear the same reference numerals and legends as those ofthe first embodiment of the biometric identity verification apparatus.

When the image indicative of the driver's face of the person sitting onthe driver's seat 21 is taken by the first camera unit 16 in the stepS3, the judgment is made by the steering wheel position judging means 32in the step S21 on whether or not the position of the steering wheel 30is within the predetermined range.

When the judgment is made in the step S21 that the position of thesteering wheel 30 is not within the predetermined range, the position ofthe steering wheel 30 is adjusted by the steering wheel positionadjusting means 31 in the step S22. As a result of the fact that theoperation in the step S22 is performed by the steering wheel positionadjusting means 31, the position of the steering wheel 30 is within thepredetermined range.

In case that the position of the steering wheel 30 is adjusted by thesteering wheel position adjusting means 31, the adjusted position of thesteering wheel 30 may be moved back to its original position after thejudgment is made in the step S5 that the face information obtained fromthe image indicative of the face of the person sitting on the driver'sseat 21 is the same as the face information stored by the biometricidentity information storing means 12.

From the above detail description, it will be understood that thebiometric identity verification apparatus 2 can allow the imageindicative of the person sitting on the driver's seat 21 to be taken bythe imaging means 10 without being interrupted by the steering wheel 30by reason that the steering wheel position adjusting means 31 isoperative to adjust the position of the steering wheel 30 to ensure thatthe position of the steering wheel 30 is within the predetermined range.

In this embodiment, the steering wheel position adjusting means 31 isoperative to adjust the position of the steering wheel 30 to ensure thatthe position of the steering wheel 30 is within the predetermined range.However, the steering wheel position adjusting means 31 may be operativeto adjust the direction of the steering wheel 30 to ensure that theposition of the steering wheel 30 is within a predetermined range.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

As will be seen from the foregoing detail description, the biometricidentity verification apparatus according to the present invention canjudge at a relatively high reliability, as an object to be solved,whether or not the person sitting on the driver's seat is identical tothe user who is allowed to utilize the automotive vehicle without beingaffected by the position of the driver's seat with respect to theautomotive vehicle, even if the position of the driver's seat isarbitrarily changed by the person sitting on the driver's seat, byreason that the seat shifting means is operative to shift the specificseat to the position to be represented by the position informationstored by the seat position information storing means when the imageindicative of the person sitting on the specific seat is taken by theimaging means. The biometric identity verification apparatus accordingto the present invention is useful for an apparatus to be mounted on theautomotive vehicle, and to be operative to judge whether or not to allowthe automotive vehicle to be utilized by the person sitting on thedriver's seat.

1. A biometric identity verification apparatus, comprising: imagingmeans for taking an image indicative of a person sitting on a specificseat of an automotive vehicle; biometric identity information obtainingmeans for obtaining biometric identity information indicative of saidperson sitting on said specific seat from said image taken by saidimaging means; biometric identity information storing means for storingbiometric identity information of at least one user who is allowed toutilize said automotive vehicle; judging means for verifying saidbiometric identity information obtained by said biometric identityinformation obtaining means on the basis of said biometric identityinformation stored by said biometric identity information storing meansto judge whether or not said person sitting on said specific seat isidentical to said user who is allowed to utilize said automotivevehicle; seat position information storing means for storing positioninformation indicative of a position of said specific seat with respectto said automotive vehicle; and steering wheel shifting means forshifting the steering wheel of said automotive vehicle to a position tobe within a predetermined range in position, or a direction to be withina predetermined range in direction.
 2. A biometric identity verificationapparatus as set forth in claim 1, which further comprises seat positioninformation registering means for registering in said seat positioninformation storing means said position information indicative of thecurrent position of said specific seat with respect to said automotivevehicle.
 3. A biometric identity verification apparatus as set forth inclaim 1, in which said imaging means is operative to take an imageindicative of the face of said person sitting on said specific seat. 4.A biometric identity verification apparatus as set forth in claim 1, inwhich said imaging means is operative to take an image indicative of oneor two irises of said person sitting on said specific seat.
 5. Abiometric identity verification apparatus as set forth in claim 1, whichfurther comprises an in-vehicle apparatus immobilizing means to beoperative in combination with at least one in-vehicle apparatus, inwhich said judging means is operative to verify said biometric identityinformation obtained by said biometric identity information obtainingmeans to judge whether or not said person sitting on said specific seatis identical to said user who is allowed to utilize said in-vehicleapparatus, and in which said in-vehicle apparatus immobilizing means isoperative to immobilize said in-vehicle apparatus to prevent saidin-vehicle apparatus from being utilized by said person sitting on saidspecific seat when the judgment is made that said person sitting on saidspecific seat is not identical to said user who is allowed to utilizesaid in-vehicle apparatus.
 6. A biometric identity verificationapparatus as set forth in claim 5, in which said in-vehicle apparatus isconstituted by an engine activating apparatus for activating the engineof said automotive vehicle.
 7. A biometric identity verificationapparatus as set forth in claim 1, in which said seat positioninformation storing means is operative to storeseat-position-in-moving-vehicle information indicative of said positionto be occupied in moving vehicle by said specific seat, to be definedwith respect to said automotive vehicle, said position of said specificseat depending on said user who is allowed to utilize said automotivevehicle, and in which said seat shifting means is operative to shiftsaid specific seat to said position represented by saidseat-position-in-moving-vehicle information stored by said seat positioninformation storing means when the judgment is made that said personsitting on said specific seat is identical to said user who is allowedto utilize said automotive vehicle.
 8. (canceled)
 9. A biometricidentity verification apparatus as set forth in claim 1, which furthercomprises steering wheel position judging means for judging whether ornot said position of said steering wheel is within said predeterminedrange in position, or whether or not said direction of said steeringwheel is within said predetermined range in direction, and in which saidsteering wheel position adjusting means is operative to shift thesteering wheel of said automotive vehicle to said position to be withinsaid predetermined range in position, or said direction to be withinsaid predetermined range in direction when the judgment is made thatsaid position of said steering wheel is not within said predeterminedrange in position, or the judgment is made that said direction of saidsteering wheel is not within said predetermined range in direction. 10.An automotive vehicle comprising a biometric identity verificationapparatus as set forth in claim 1.